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(No Model.) 3 sheets-sheet 1.

J. M. ERTS.

GAR STARTER.

No. 359,013. Y Patented Mar. 8, 1887..

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GAR STARTER.

(No Model.)

No. 359,013. Patented Mar.' 8, 1887A.

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J. M. ERTS. GAR STARTER.

Patented Mar. 8, 1887.

WITNESSES m R o T T A UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOSEPH M. ERTS, OF POUGHKEEPSIE, NEV YORK.

CAR-STARTE R.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 359,013, dated March 8,1887.

Application filed August 20,1886. Serial No. 211,448. (No model T0 aZZwhom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JOSEPH M. Ears, of the city of Poughkeepsie, in thecounty of Dutchess and State of New York, have invented a new andImproved Car-Starter, of which the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part ofthis specification, in which similar letters of reference indicatecorresponding parts in all the figures.

Figure 1 is a plan view of the under side of astreet-car having myinventionapplied thereto, the car being inverted. Fig. 2 is a brokenlongitudinal sectional elevation. of the car in upright position, takenon line x x of Fig. l. Fig. 3 is an end view of the car and startingmechanism. Fig. 4 is a detailed plan of the bottom of the car, showingan automatic safety detaching device to prevent injury t0 the startingmechanism. Fig. 5 is an enlarged side view of one form of safetydetaching device. Fig. 6 is an enlarged inverted plan view of the car,showing-a modification of the safety detaching mechanism. Fig. 7 is asectional elevation of the same, the car being upright, taken on theline y y of Fig. 6; and Fig. 8 is an enlarged side view ofthe detachingdevice.

The invention will rst be described in connection with the drawings, andthen pointed ont in the claims.

Upon the axle A of the car is placed loosely the two gearwheels B G.rlhese are adapted to be locked to revolve with the axle by the slidingclutches D E, placed upon the axle and controlled by levers F G ateither end ofthe car, the said levers being attached to the rods H I,and the latter connected to the clutches, respectively, by the forkedarms J K, so that by shifting the levers the rods may be turned and thearms J K caused to slide the clutches to engage or disengage theclutches of the wheels B C, as desired, to operate the startingnicchanism.

The gear-wheel B meshes with a gear-wheel, L, secured upon the shortshaft, L/, jonrnaled in hangers L'Z L, depending from the bottom of thecar. The gear-wheel C meshes with a gear-wheel, M, secured upon a shortshaft, M,

rol journaled in the hangers L3 and L4. The short shafts L and M arejournaled in different planes, and are connected together by the twopinions c b, secured upon the said shafts, respectively, so that therevolution of either shaft will communicate a reverse motion to theother.

To the shaft M is secured the inner end of a coiled spring, N, the outerend of which is attached to the bottoni of the car, so that the springmay be wound up by causing` the shaft M to revolve in the properdirection, which may be done by properly manipulating the levers F G, asnext described. The spring N is by preference inclosed by the two sideplates, c c, secured to the shaft M', so that the spring cannot get outof place or receive injury.

'lhe operation is as follows: The car being drawn in the direction ofthe arrow, Fig. 2, both clutches D E being moved away from the clutchesof the gear-wheels B C, the axle A and said clutches D E revolveindependently of the starting mechanism. Now, when the car is to bestopped, lever F is to be moved to the left to engage clutch D with theclutch of the gear-wheel B. rlhis will cause gear-wheel B to revolvewith the axle, which motion will cause the short shafts M L to revolvein the proper direction to wind up the spring N. The car having beenbrought to a standstill, lever G will-be moved to the right to engageclutch E with the clutch of the gear-wheel C. This done, and the carready to start again, the le ver F will be moved to disengage clutch Dfrom the clutch of the gear-wheel B, whereupon the tension of the springN will exert a forward motion to the axle through the shaft M',gear-wheels M C, and clutch E, and assist in starting the car. Vhen thecar is reversed and drawn in the direction opposite to that indicated bythe arrow in Fig. 2, the sequence of movements of the levers F G will beexactly reversed fromv that above described.

In case the brakeman should fail to detach the clutch D or E at theproper time, to avoid injury to the spring N, which would result fromsuch neglect, I attach to the shafts LM antomatic clutclrshiftingdevices O, for shifting the clutches on the axle out of engagement withthe clutches on its wheels B C, thus releasing all strain, upon thesprings. This automatic device consists of several circular disks orplates, m n o p q, Fig. 5, each of less diameter than the disk next toit. The disks are each formed with a projection, o', that stands in theIOO same plane with the disk, and with a projection, r', that stands atright angles to the plane of the disk. The disk q is made fast to theshaft, while the other disks are loose thereon, and the largest disk, m,in Fig. 5, is formed with a cam, m', at the outer edge to strike againsta flange, c', upon the clutch, so that by the revolution of the plate mythe cam will move the sliding clutch out of engagement with itscorresponding clutch on the cog-wheel. The plates or disks m n o p q,Fig. 5, are arranged so that the shaft may revolve independently of thedisk m a number of revolutions, the number corresponding with the numberof disks, as each disk must make a complete revolution before itrevolves the next larger disk.

It will be understood that the whole action of the safety device isderived from the plate q, which revolves with the shaft until itsprojection 1'- strikes the projection a" of the disk p. These two diskswill now revolve together until the. projection rot' the disk p strikesthe projection i" of the disk o, when the latter will revolve and inturn revolve plate n, which in turn will revolve plate m and cause thecam m' to act upon the clutch and disengage it from the clutch on thecog-wheel, so that the starting mechanism will thereby be thrownentirely out of action, and all danger of injury to the spring N andother parts ofthe starting mechanism avoided.

In place of the cam min each of the devices for shifting the clutch, Imay form the plates q, which are loose upon the auxiliary shafts,

with arms q'. (See Fig. 8.) To these arms I attach the central arm, s,of double bell-crank leverS by the rods s' s. (See Figs. G and 7.) Thedouble bell-crank lever S is pivoted upon the lower end of a stud, S',attached to the bottom of the car. The arm s2 of this double lever isconnected by rod t and arm t' to the rod H, while the arm si isconnected by the rod t2 and arm t to the rod I. Constructed in thismanner, when the car is not stopped in time, the auxiliary shaft willmake as many revolutions as there are disks,or until the projectionrofthe outer disk, m, (which revolves with the shaft,) causes the disk q t0revolve. When this latter disk is caused to turn, the arm q turns thedouble bell-crank S on its pivot and causes it to turn the rods H I,which will cause them, through their connections with the clutches D E,to slide said clutches away from the clutches on the cog-wheels, andthus entirely release the starting mechanism, so it is thrown entirelyout of action automat ically, and thus saved from injury.

If the car should run with unusual speed, I can attach a friction-clutchto the clutches D E, so that if the spring should wind up before the carstops the frictionclutches will relieve the spring.

Having thus fully described my invention, I claim as' new and desire tosecure by Letters Patentl. The axle A of the car, provided with the'sliding clutches D E and loose gearwvheels B C, each formed with aclutch to receive the teeth of the clutches D E, in combination with twoauxiliary shafts, L' M', j ournaledv in different plaues in fixedbearing, the spring N on shaft M', the gear-wheels L M, fixed yupon theauxiliary shafts L M', respectively, the

pinions a b, connecting the said two auxiliary' shafts, and means,substantially as described, for shifting the clutches D E on the axle Afrom the platforms ofthe car, substantiallyvas described.

2. The sliding clutches D E on the axle A, formed with flanges, theauxiliary shafts L' M', geared together and provided, respectively, withgear-wheels L M, the shaft M' being provided with the spring N, incombinatien with the clutch-wheel B C, loose on the axle A, and theautomatic devices O, attached to the auxiliary shaft L' M' and revolvingtherewith, for shifting the clutches D E on the shaft A, substantiallyas and for the purpose described.

3. The automatic elutclrshifting device O, consisting of plates n op q,formed with horizontal and radial arms w", and placed loosely upon theauxiliary shaft, the disk m., made 'fast to said shaft, and the disk q,provided with the arm q', in combination with bell crank lever S, rods HI, connected by the sliding clutches and the connecting-rods t t2 s',and the arms t' t3, substantially as and for the purposes described.

JOSEPH M. ERTS. Vi tn esses:

JOHN H. MILLARD, HENRY Bosfrwrck.

